Who is That Strange Guy?

Last night I went for a walk downtown. Knoxville has many places that are fun and safe after dark. My choice was Market Square. For those of you who do not know, it is a block of stores and restaurants that has no street to get in the way. Yep, drivers have to find another way to get to the other side. It is a cool place to hang out and watch people.

Yes, I am a people watcher. Last night I watched a lot of people with my notebook in hand. Oh the sights, sounds and smells I discovered. It seems only right that I share the writer’s perspective on a warm evening in Knoxville.

A couple was sitting in the outdoor seating of a restaurant. This looked to me like a first date because the woman was trying to get the man to look at her cleavage. Then she got made when he did. Been there. Done that. Looked down the t-shirt.

The strong smell of a cigarette invaded my nostrils as a man was puffing away on his Camel passing by, oblivious to the disgust on the face of woman walking with him. At least he didn’t fart.

There was a group of twenty-something guys walking along, looking at the woman who had been trying to get her date to notice her low cut shirt. They also noticed a guy sitting alone at a picnic table writing in a notebook. Once they passed by, one asked if they thought the man was writing about them. I was after they said that.

A bird was chattering overhead, obviously upset by the invasion of humans into this domain it had claimed as its own. I was hoping it was going to dive bomb someone. That would be really hilarious as long it was not me.

A woman sat off to the side, watching the people passing by, wanting solitude while still having the company of others. Or was that my reflection in a store window?

A face appeared in a second story window, disappearing as soon as someone noticed. It was either a kidnap victim, a shy person who wanted to look out a window, or a master spy seeking the sleeper cell of the Latverian death squad. Wait, that last one was from a comic book.